Films spoofing the famous dance scenes from Saturday Night Fever are ten a penny but this moment from Airplane did it first and did it brilliantly. From the moment a girl scouts head bounces off the jukebox setting off the song 'Staying Alive' and that crusty old sailor's juddery entrance onto the dancefloor it's just perfect. 3 minutes of comedy that in 38 years has rarely been bettered. There's so many jokes coming at you that it doesn't matter if they don't all stick cos there'll be one along in 4 seconds that will. The bemused reaction to a pinch request. The little whee's!! The stab dance. How blindingly stupid Ted's uniform whites look in that bar. It all just works so well with a Barry Gibb falsetto blaring over it.
Unlike a lot of musical sequences in films this one actually moves the story forward too. Well actually no, it can't move a story forward because it's a flashback but it does add depth. The first encounter of Ted and Elaine. Love at first sight. It's the funniest meet cute ever. Her beautiful smile and his Travolta/Russian dancing. A match made in heaven.
Perfection.
Previous scenes
Dazed And Confused
Kickboxer
Grosse Point Blank
Mean Streets
Watership Down
Casablanca
Zodiac
Jackie Brown
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Deliverance
The Omen
Copland
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
The Mission
Before Sunset
Carlito's Way
A Knight's Tale
Platoon
Before Sunrise
Rushmore
An American Werewolf In London
Dazed And Confused
Boogie Nights
Raging Bull
Almost Famous
Once Upon A Time In The West
Goodfellas
Last Of The Mohicans
No comments:
Post a Comment